Hex of Phantom
by Tai-dot-EXE
Summary: A young boy grows up with a certain someone's eye on him. Strange powers have him marked as a prime candidate for an experiment, but can he survive it? Who is V.P, why are Hex's parents acting odd and can he accept these new powers in time to save a life?
1. It all began with a shoe on the wall

**Author's Note: I don't own Danny Phantom, Danny Fenton, Tucker Foley, Sam/Samantha Manson, Amity Park, the concept of a Ghost, Vlad Masters/Plasmius, anything else that is owned by Butch Hartman, or anything that has been around for longer than a Millennium.**

**That said, I do own Hex, his parents, this plot, and any other characters or places I make up for the sake of making it interesting.**

**Enjoy.**

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**Chapter One:**

'_It all began with a shoe on the wall…'_

A petite silhouette bolted up-right in bed, drenched with sweat. It gasped, and gulped for air. Two dull gray orbs pierced the darkness. _'Another night full of nightmares…Joy.'_ A grim thought broke the silence. It had clearly been years since the cautious gray spheres had seen true sleep. Silhouetted legs stretched out of bed, as a voice, just a touch masculine, groaned into the darkness.

Xander Spencer, or Hex—as those around him called him—had been having nightmares ever since he was little. The very same nightmare, in fact. It seemed to reoccur, over and over, never making it past a certain point. All the made sense was the beginning. Daytime, and the sky. The rest came in short unintelligible bursts.

_Sunlight._

_A huge shadow that covered everything._

_A sudden dark storm._

_Hail that blocked out any signs of life._

_Then nothing but pain and death._

Crushing any thoughts of telling his parents he'd had said nightmare again, Hex slid out of bed and worked his way over to a large messy desk. Bare feet padded gently across the carpeting, virtually silent, avoiding the books and spare papers littered the floor. His bent frame was careful, but quick in not slipping on an article, or tripping over an encyclopedia.

He a flipped the switch, thankful the speakers were muted, before the screen hummed with life. A blinding green seemed to ooze from his monitor for a moment, before it finally settled down. His hands were invisible in the darkness, plugging in a mouse and keyboard. His cursor, poised and at the ready above an icon suddenly froze—Something wasn't quite right.

An icon he'd never seen before was sitting patiently in his taskbar. Sullen eyes drifted from the symbol to the clock beside his computer, which currently read 11:38 PM. He rejected the impulse to smack his head against said clock. Turning his head back toward the screen, he realized the offending icon looked a bit like a mechanical gate; Two jagged edges coming together in the middle of a round frame. But then, most gates didn't have swirling green and purple frames. A portal, perhaps?

The word 'portal', was one of the many words banned from the dinner-table. If anyone got him started on anything related to the occult—he'd be off in another world, talking those around him up and down walls about his past. Filled with odd little happenings, it was no wonder he'd grown up to become who he was now—a freak with a label synonymous with 'cursed'. When he was little, his parents used to warn him against doing anything that would gain him such a label—but it wasn't as if he'd been able to control most of it at 8. Or 6. Or 3.

He'd once saved a neighbor's cat from falling out of a tree; from 40 feet away. One moment, the cat was sitting in the tree-the next, "she" was safely back in "her" owners arms—being clung-to for dear life. Sure, the lady whom the cat belonged to was happy that her dear little "Cutsie-kins" was safe and sound, but after his family had been rejected by the surrounding neighbors and towns—they'd moved a couple states over. Once he'd asked a friend to do something ridiculous and crazy—something all the rest of his friends swore they would never do. But sure enough, after a moment of them staring at Hex and his eyes—he grudgingly agreed. Only later was he told that his eyes had turned bright blue. He never saw that friend again—as he was kept in therapy until Hex had moved to another new state for yet a seventh time.

They hardly acknowledged his 'abilities' now, but it didn't stop him from seeking something that he could do—something that he could be recognized for. Anything to make "Xander Keane Spencer" seem special.

Special…whenever he heard that word it reminded him of the one person who would always seem special and amazing, no matter how technological the world got. Xander was nothing, and never would be anything when compared to the boy in the disasteroid incident. It had happened just a year ago. The idea of a giant asteroid crushing the world, and the idea that a single boy—three whole years younger than him-took it upon himself to save the entire world, was baffling. Just the thought reminded him of his own situation—what with his nightmares always in the back of his mind.

Brightening gray eyes unconsciously scanned the date on a calendar up on the wall, before making their way back down to his clock. Rubbing his eyes, he crawled out of his chair and over to a small pile of newspapers near his bed. _'Matter of fact, in twenty minutes it'll have been exactly a year to the day...time passes so quickly. I'm running out of time to do something amazing before I die." _He grinned to himself, cynically._ "To think that such a normal kid, someone…someone not at all like m—', _his darkening thoughts and expression were interrupted by a harsh knock at the door.

"Xander Keane!" His dreaded mother's screeching voice rang clear throughout the halls of the house. He seemed to freeze mid-step. He tore off his pajama top and strung it over the bright computer screen. There was a moment before the overly-effeminate voice took off again. "Get off that computer, this instant!" Amelia, as he loved to call the crotchety old woman, pounded on the door. "I know you're on that gosh-darn machine, and summer has only just started! Just. Started! Do you want to be grounded again? I've told you that being up all night is bad for your health! You and I both know you should be in bed and…" The high-pitched whining echoed up and down the hall, but he was somehow able to drown out the noise. It seemed like the tirade would go on for hours. He went back to digging around for something.

As if able to tell her son wasn't listening, she suddenly switched gears. "Xander…please. You know why you can't be up this late. Soon-…Well it'll be _midnight_! Even if you didn't…" Amelia's voice seemed to get more and more desperate with each word. In the back of his mind, Hex actually found himself wanting to tell her he'd be fine.

He held his breath and froze at a sudden silence in his mother's voice. Thick, padded footsteps were heard stomping down the hall in a huff. He sat there, waiting for the moment to pass, then spoke to the darkness—voice barely above a whisper. "I have to be up tonight…tonight, it'll have been a year."

After waiting a few more seconds, he let out a deep breath. A few moments later, the dull light still shining out from underneath his black pajama shirt, and the gentle humming reminded him of what he was looking for.

Making his way back over to his desk, he dropped a small newspaper clipping. Snatching his shirt back off of his screen and tossing it behind him, he noted on the screen that the 'portal' had cast an eerie gentle green across the rest of the screen.

What had he been doing the night before? He'd been on a website all about the incident that nearly ended the lives of everyone on the entire planet. There were tons of them out there, but this one in particular had caught his attention. When he'd read the little summary of the site on Google, it mentioned something about "the way to become part of the other world that was nearly destroyed". All he saw was a boring popup about a "portal to the other dimension" that could be down…load..ed…-_'Yea, right.'_

Double-clicking the small glowing icon, he curiously watched as a loading bar popped up on the screen. The world 'Portal' read in the top part of the window, while diagonal bars of green and purple slowly worked their way across. There weren't any spiffy graphics, just a loading bar with two small letters that were quickly being covered up by the steadily growing bar. _'V.P.? Sounds like a cool company…'_ His father, Piper, had warned him countless times against going out and downloading things, but he just couldn't help himself. Ignoring all the consequences that would no-doubt come the next morning—Hex watched intently as the bar filled itself out.

Quickly bored with a sudden stall in the load, he got up, stretched, and rifled around in more papers on the ground. His hands grasped at the small news clipping he'd dropped earlier, now-icy spheres taking in every line. It was about how a boy, no older than himself, had saved the entire world. Privately, understandably, he wished that could be him. Hex didn't want the title, media, or fans…but it was his one deepest wish to be able to do something amazing, something no one else in the entire world could do. Something that would show his parents that he wasn't as much of a failure as they thought.

The loading bar had reached the end of the line by the time he sat back down. Checking for the small icon that was supposed to be on his desktop or taskbar, he'd noted that any semblance of the thing had gone completely missing. Confused, he brought up a search and scanned the list. _'Adobe…Firefox… Ahhah!'_ He finally found what he was looking for, under the name of 'Ghost Portal'. That had to be it, as it was the only thing that hadn't been there before. _'Odd name for a program…'_ Hex quickly checked the time again, 11:56, then readied his mouse over the mysterious image.

When he'd double clicked, a screen asking for a password appeared. His hand grasped at the non-existent stubble on his chin, before he dove behind his chair into one of the larger piles of books scattered about. He rummaged for a solid minute, then left the pile, a thin book with worn corners grasped in his hand. Behind him, books tumbled in an avalanche, covering more of the slowly vanishing carpet. Hopping back into his seat—he flipped the book open to a stickied page and testily pressed enter, ready to crack the offending blockade. "Password accepted," said the screen in place of the old window. _'But I never…'_ He suddenly looked perplexed. Next thing he knew, the window had closed and was replaced with the animated image of an opening and closing window with little ghosts popping out at random intervals.

"Cute." Even whispered aloud, the words didn't echo far due to the massive amounts of books that surrounded him. He pressed enter again. _Click. Click. Click-click._ Nothing new happened. Exhaling, he poised his hand to close the program when a funny thing happened. His features went blank, his entire body relaxed, and it was as if someone had pulled a thick film over his eyes.

All of the sudden, nothing looked familiar.

A strange world stood before him. Neon greens and sharp purples cascaded into each other, ridding Hex of any sense of up or down. Purple doorways and thin green walkways floated aimlessly in the bleak endless landscape.

He seemed to float in this new, constantly shifting world. He couldn't move—frozen in place by something he couldn't see. His features were tilted a little toward the reflective green floor below him—but the clothing he could see of himself looked unfamiliar. Black and white—he was only wearing the two colors. Skin tight clothing, with a set of boots and gloves—he reminded himself of a man in a hazardous waste suit. No coherent words wanted to form.

One of the bizarre purple doors flew open, and a disgusting creature made of a transparent green liquid sped right through. Its eyes and body seemed to glow with the same strange green he'd been seeing all night. Tentacles careening back, it noticed him. _'Shi-!'_ But his voice didn't want to respond. The creature hesitated, before letting loose an earsplitting screech—and lunging. He was ready to tense and jump out of the way, when his body decided differently. A torrent of energy seemed to fill his body—though he didn't feel it—as this "other him" let loose a blast of pure swirling energy. The 'octopus', as he tentatively put it, disintegrated on contact.

_'There's no way. There's…man, I must've eaten something that seriously…agreed with me—Whoa!'_ At break-neck speed, the body turned around and flew through another one of the open purple doors.

He opened his eyes.

And groaned.

_'…A shoe on the wall shouldn't be there at all.'_

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**Author's Note: Not too bad! Eh? Eh? Was trying for a shorter chapter than the other version of this story that A) Explained more of what would happen later in the story, B) Filled more of the little plot-holes, C) Better-developed the character and made him look like less of a Gary Stu, and D) Didn't have any breaks-like the one I used to separate the author's comment. TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK. Longer chapters coming, Flames GREATLY appreciated!  
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	2. The doors we open and close each day

**Chapter Two:**

**'The doors we open and close each day…'**

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'_He opened his eyes._

_And groaned.'_

Slowly but surely, Hex worked his pupils to a reasonable size. He'd been out for several hours—and the brilliant light coming in through his window made his eyes water. Though he tried to keep it down, a yawn finally escaped him.

Then a knock on the door sent him crashing down into a pile of books. He really needed to clean his room…

Leaping to his feet, Hex sped over to said door and ripped it open. A man just two decades older than him stood in the doorway, hunched a little over. His darkened, dull eyes signaled that he'd had as rough a night as Hex had.

"Dad." Hex winced. Normally his father didn't walk all the way across the house to get him—that was what yelling was for.

"Xander—your mother's looking for you. She's-…" said Piper, his father. Anything else that left his mouth after that was lost—he'd already made it to the stairs.

Rolling his eyes, Hex followed his father down. The spiraling carpeted stairs surrounded by plain white walls gave this part of the house a new-home feel, which betrayed the few years they'd been living there.

Upon entering the living room, his mother scribbling things madly down in her notes with her nose in an old tome from their library, he began to move for a brown square parcel with his name on it, sitting plainly on the hard wood table.

"Don't." It was an order from the feminine but commanding voice of his mother, Amelia. She sat up very straight, placing her notebook within the tome she'd been reading and setting it aside.

Tossing a last glance back at the box, Hex turned and gave his full attention to his mother. "Mom, it's got my name on it. Can I please open my own mail?" It was meant as a jest, but the look on Amelia's face told him it wasn't taken that way. "Here—I'll even open it in front of you-"

"There's no need for that." Amelia's voice was tired, but pointed. "I just wish I knew why my son was getting a mysterious package in the mail…have you been giving out your address on the internet?"

"What? No!" He took a step forward, but this merely made his mother narrow her eyes—so he took a step back. "I'd never…you should know me better than that!" Snatching up the box from the table and running to his room, a backward glance caught that look of confusion that passed between his parents.

"Xander…Last night, you-" His mother began, and he knew where that would be going.

Before he could answer her unasked question, he sprinted up the plain round staircase, locking himself into his oddly cold, dark room. "Sorry if I slept in too late, mom!" He yelled through the door into the hallway.

Only when he made it back into his room did Hex finally relax. With the door safely shut and locked behind him, his weary gray eyes looked down at the small box clutched within his pale hands. Avoiding a set of "Ghost Hunters Weekly" piled up on the floor, he made his was over to the window.

Unsurprisingly, the short sprint from the living room hadn't changed the parcel's appearance at all. The only exception was a small tear in the corner, through which his mother had probably peeked into it. With a steady hand, he set it on the desk next to his computer, and ran a finger through the hole. The paper ripped rather loudly, and he grasped the two ends of the wrapping and wrenched them apart. What fell out confused him.

A thin, flimsy hazmat suit fell onto his desk. The shiny, white surface reflecting the sunlight from the window. It came with a set of soft black gloves, black boots, and a thin belt. The only other detail was a black ring around the neck-that reached down to the shoulders.

He stared at it in confusion, before poking it with a single finger.

Nothing happened.

He reached out to grab it-holding it up against himself. The spandex gave the illusion of being too small, but he couldn't help wonder if it might fit him. Pulling down the zipper on the back, he set it down and quickly got undressed.

Pulling it up over his legs was the easy part. He twisted and turned until he felt his muscles were bruised. Finally, he got it up to his neck, and zipped it up. The rest of the outfit was a cinch to put on-and Hex turned toward the mirror to get a good look at himself. Just as he thought-it fit perfectly without a single wrinkle.

With an excited glance, he scanned the rest of the spare paper for anything else, and found only a small piece of white paper. It read, "I hope you like it."

Then it hit him.

His head spun so quickly something cracked, as he dove down into a pile of newspapers, still unkempt from last night's escapade. He clutched at a single clipping-and peered over it.

His suit looked just like the one worn by the ghost boy who saved the world. Even more so-it was just an inverted copy if what he'd seen himself wear in his dream.

Mouth wide open, as he wondered who could've known. Stumbling back-he reached his computer and pulled the screen up. It took a minute, before settling on his desktop. As he flipped through his programs-he hit the program he'd discovered last night-and waited for the window to pop up.

This time he typed in a new password.

"Danny Phantom."

The window jumped into action.

"Well done." Scrolled across the screen. "You finally figured it out," Hex sat straight as he saw what typed itself out letter by letter. "X-a-n-d-e-r S-p-e-n-c-e-r."

A bolt of green electrifying pain shot out of the screen. Before Hex even had the chance to react, his body seized, and he passed out.

The last thing he remembered was the sight of brown hair suddenly bleaching itself white, and a ghostly glow filling his vision.

When he came to, his body seemed to hum with energy. He groaned-but the sound seemed oddly hollow...and as if it echoed. He pried his eyes open, noting the white hair that fell across his face.

Wait...white?

His arms ached, and protested-but he lifted one anyway, reaching for his face. Except...the glove on his hand wasn't black anymore. It too was white.

Slowly, painfully, he dragged his body upright-and found that his outfit now bore an even more striking resemblance to the piece of news clipping next to his hand. Peering up toward the mirror-his green eyes glowing, he finally got a good look at himself.

Only when a pounding on the door hit him in the head, did he wonder how long he'd been out.

"Xander." A voice vaguely like his mother's seeped into his room from the hall. "Come on out sweetie. We need to talk." It had a sickly sweet, put-on overtone with an edge Hex didn't much like.

"H-hang on Mom." But when he went to speak, it bounced around in his head a bit deeper than in normally sounded.

"Are you sick, honey?" Hex began to answer, only to discover his body was beginning to fall through the floor. Right through a solid object.

"Uhhh! You know-ughhh, I feel awful. I better not come out..." He began frantically waving his arms-trying to find something solid to grab. "Wouldn't wanna make you sick!" Finally finding a foothold, he pulled himself up out of the ground and tentatively set his food down. Solid enough.

"Are you sure, honey? I better come in." A key was unlocking his door from the other side-and he panicked.

'Oh no...how do I?...What do I?...What happened? A strange voice...sinking through the floor...I'm...glowing? Am I dead?' He stuck his arms out and pushed to keep the door closed, when a funny thing happened.

Two rings of white circled his middle, and left in their wake...him in normal clothing. Brown haired and gray eyed. And not a moment too soon.

He took a step back, looking down at himself, as his mother swung the door open and stepped through. Her regular perfectly placed hair a bit mussed, as her eyes flashed a deep, crimson red.

Wait...red? That's impossible. Her eyes are green.

Gone as quick as she came, his mother looked him over, and left. Hex couldn't move. So many strange things had happened in the stretch of just a few minutes.

Afraid of sinking through the floor, Hex settled down in his bed. He laid back, and wondered about the last few minutes. Hopping back onto his feet, Hex stuck his arms out in front of himself again. When nothing happened he ran over to the door and pushed. Besides the door creaking on it's hinges, nothing happened.

Hex sighed in relief-perhaps he's just been hallucinating. Visually and audibly. Hex was about to lay down on his bed when his father ran into his room and grabbed his shoulder.

"Pack your bags, son!" Hex's father said with a strangely upbeat attitude. As if realizing he wasn't acting like himself-Piper cleared his throat and continued talking. "Your mother and I have decided we've spent enough time here. I think it's time we move again."

Shocked, Hex tugged his shoulder free. "Wh-what? We just got settled here in Ohio! I'm going to school-I finally finished a whole semester at the same school! I'm a senior now-just let me graduate and THEN we can move!" But his father wasn't listening.

"Pack your bags, son!" All he did was repeat himself before he dashed out of the room.

By the time dinner came around, Hex was full of questions. But when he finally got downstairs-called down by the pains in his stomach-he was only greeted by a note on the fridge. Apparently his parents were out for dinner tonight.

He grabbed the ingredients for a sandwich, tossed it together and swallowed it with fervor. He peeked out the window to see if anyone was around, before slipping outside.

Hex stretched his legs, still feeling sore from his fainting spell earlier. He sat on the grass, and got into a pose fit for a Hollywood yoga teacher, and concentrated. Nothing happened at first, until he noticed that his body tingled-as if he'd just been shocked. If he pushed-the two glowing rings appeared, but he couldn't hold them there for long. If he pushed with all his concentration, and relaxed his entire body, the rings finally circled him and worked their way up and down.

When he finally started breathing again-he noticed his entire left arm had completely vanished. He gasped, flailing it around until it became visible again.

"What the hell is going o-"

The front door slamming brought him out of his thoughts. He could hear his mother and father opening and closing boxes-and worried they would see him like this.

Instead of turning back, when he concentrated, his body lifted up off the ground. This would be rather exciting-if he could get back down.

The only reason his mother didn't see him as she came out, was because he stood 5 feet in the air-completely invisible.

"Hex! Hex honey! Come on inside, we need to talk!"

He reached down, grabbing a fistful of grass and roots to pull himself back down. Only when his mother had gone did he fall to the ground and become visible again. But when his mother's face was a split second from appearing in the window, the two bright rings appeared of their own will, returning him to normal.

His mother called from inside. "Hex honey, we're serious. Pack your bags, or we're leaving without them. Tomorrow morning."

'…**decide the lives we live.'**


	3. No one remains quite what he was

**Chapter Three:**

**'No one remains quite what he was…'**

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A face was pressed up against the cold back window of the Spencer SUV. Only his seatbelt kept him from leaping right out of it. Gray orbs strained to catch another glimpse of the peculiar sign that flew right by them.

Though at this point? The seatbelt may not help at all.

During the past 2 hour drive up to who-knows-where, Hex counted that various parts of his body had vanished around 27 times. He'd nearly fallen through his seat into the cold and rain outside-but was able to remain tangible enough to grab the seat in front of him.

_'"A safe place to live?" Odd motto for a town.'_

He groaned, again, as water against the window dripped inside-narrowly avoiding all the boxes and bags piled up behind him.

"This just won't do...No this just won't do." Hex's mother mumbled to herself as Piper drove on. "A storm? Now?"

The car slowed to a stop in front of a giant tower-complete with a huge oval-shaped building on top. An odd sight in the middle of a regular old town. It slowed the rain, but was still too dark to see under.

As if from the bowels of hell-a huge black shadow crept out of the house and ran to the car. It slammed into them, causing Amelia to scream-before a smaller shadow next to it yanked him back.

As if by the press of a button, lights clicked on all around them. The huge skulking shadow gained the visage of a friendly, though overweight man. And the smaller shadow, that of a woman.

"Amm sfffy ffff srrrrrtd yuuuu." The loud man said, muffled by the loud storm. The woman next to him wiped off the window with a towel and breathed on it-writing out the words 'would you like to come in?' With a thin, glove-covered hand.

Heartened by the sight of other human beings, Hex pulled his shoe back on after it had just fallen to the floor. Grumbling, Amelia followed Hex's father after he'd hopped out of the car to speak to the two waiting outside.

"Hi there!" Said the cheery red-readed woman in a blue hazmat suit. "I'm Madison Fenton, but you can call me Maddie."

"And I'm Jack Fenton, ghost hunter extraordinaire!" The large man in the orange hazmat said. "We're the Fentons!"

"Uhh-nice to meet you. I'm Amelia, and this is-"

"Spencer. Piper Spencer, novel writer extraordinaire." Both Hex and his mother rolled their eyes. When Amelia went to speak, she was cut off by a bolt of lightning.

"Listen, would you like to come in for some tea and cookies? It's raining pretty hard, and you don't look like you're from around here." Maddie stretched her hand toward the woman in front of her.

At this, Hex groped with his intangible hand at the car door. Finally pulling it open, he shouted, "I'm Hex. We'd love to."

To which his mother replied, "His name is Xander, after Alexander the Great. Would you like to hear about it?" Suddenly looking excited.

"Uhhh...sure! Come on in." Maddie tried to smile, but was forewarned by the look on Hex's face.

Unbeknownst to any of them, a pair of unseen glowing green eyes noticed the way the leg of Xander's pants were suddenly untouched by the rain.

They made their way up a few stairs and in through a red door, leaving their car parked right outside. What awaited them was a comfortable looking house with a living room, doorway, staircase, and kitchen. The living room had a large plush couch and coffee table, the kitchen had white cabinets and a dining room table, and the staircase up seemed to lead to a set of bedrooms.

Once settled inside, Jack called down their daughter Jasmine. Apparently, she preferred to be called Jazz, a thin short girl with long orange hair and calculating blue eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Xander. I'm Jazz. If you need any help before you leave, just let me know." Hex tried to smile at her, but it became more of a grimace.

"Danny!" Jazz shouted upstairs, surprising the Spencers. "We have guests! Come say hello!"

Grinning behind his bright blue eyes, Danny Fenton came running downstairs. With an air of familiarity, Hex took in the small red oval on a white shirt, and thin red converse. "Do I know you?"

"Uhh...I was just about to ask-" But Hex was cut off by his mother.

"We've never lived here before, Daniel-but it's nice to meet you." Amelia waved a hand.

"You too Mrs..?" Danny didn't know her name.

"Spencer." Amelia was curt, but turned back to Maddie. "So, Alexander the Great..."

"Danny, this is Xander." Hex sighed, but Jazz didn't notice. "His family is moving up to Canada by car." Each took a seat on the rounded red couch, Danny putting his feet up on the table.

"Really? Canada? Maybe if you took a boat." This made Hex chuckle, Jazz simple rolled her eyes.

"Very funny. We had to take them in because of the storm outside. It's weird..." Jazz didn't finish her sentence.

"Yeah, kinda like the time Vort-" but Danny was cut off.

"Shhh! We can't talk about that!" Jazz glanced toward Hex of all things.

"A storm?" Then he got it. "Oh, you mean the Vortex incident. Yeah, I know about it. We'd just moved to Ohio at the time."

"Ohio?" Questioned Danny.

"Do you move a lot?" This from Jazz.

"Uhh...yes and yes? We'd lived in Wisconsin before that, and-" but the moment Hex mention led Wisconsin, Danny visibly flinched. Seems no one could finish their sentences.

"Uhhh, how do you know about Vortex?" Jazz cut in, trying to distract Hex from Danny's sudden silence.

A quick look over to his parents, led Hex to lower his voice. "I'm...into that kinda thing? I mean...I've done as much research as the internet will allow me. The very reason we moved to Wisconsin is because I was able to convince my parents to let us live there. I'd heard of this Wisconsin cheese ghost..."

"Where...did you live in Wisconsin?" This came from Danny, but he was looking off into space.

"Let's see...Madison? Really boring, but it was a cheap house, and near the ruins of this mansion..."

Then Jazz stood up.

"Well, it was very nice meeting you, Hex. I hope you have a safe trip." Walking toward the stairs, she shot one more glance at Danny, before continuing up past a blurry photo of a young Jack, Maddie, and a man with a long black mullet, beside a tiny little yellow and black striped...wait...portal? It was identical, if more detailed than the one on his computer.

He suddenly wanted to run outside to get it.

"Hey Danny." Hex gestured toward the tiny photo. "What's that a photo of?"

"The one with my parents? Oh...back in college, they made the world's first ghost portal..." Then Danny got an idea. "Want to see it? Well, the bigger version they've made now?"

Hex jumped off the couch. "Can we? Do you have it? Where is it?" Like a kid in a candy store, Hex's head sweeped left and right. "Does it work?"

Laughing, Danny got up and led Hex over to a doorway. Down below, Hex saw stairs leading to a blue lit room. "Come on."

Down about 2 flights of steps was a huge laboratory. Glass beakers and Bunsen Burners littered the desks at the end of the room, right next to the giant metal guns with cylinders filled with a strange green goo. At the end of the hall stood a 10 foot tall metal structure of red and black stripes, around 2 doors that split the circle in half.

Hex was in awe. "No way." Creeping up to the hulking mass of metal, he noted the keypad and locks on the doors.

"Yes way." Danny had begun to cheer up. "My parents are ghost hunters, and that is a portal to the ghost zone."

Hex was just about to poke the portal when a loud yell from upstairs brought him out of his reverie. "Come on back upstairs boys, Amelia doesn't want Xander..oh, 'playing' down there." Hex groaned.

"Damn. Thanks for showing me, Danny." He sighed.

Once back upstairs, Maddie saw the disappointed look on Hex's face.

"Why don't you two go up to Danny's room?" The suggestion came from Maddie. Jack was too busy chomping on an absurdly large piece of fudge. "It may be a bit messy, but I don't think he'll mind."

"Nah, I don't mind. Later." Practically dragging Hex up by the arm, they made it halfway until Hex's arm phased right through Danny's.

Hiding his arm behind is bsck, Hex stammered. "Uhh...I can walk, much as i appreciate not being around my parents."

Danny grinned, grabbing Hex's other arm and dragging him all the way into his room. Posters of various shuttle launches, and photos of Danny shaking the hand of various famous Astronauts greeted him.

"Whoa. Uhh...I take it you want to be an astronaut." Hex said it without really thinking.

"And I guess you want to keep hiding that intangible arm behind your back. Weird. I don't sense you being a ghost at all, and yet..." Hex froze.

"What are you-!" Hex spun around to face Danny-but was too panicked to look directly at him.

"Relax." Danny chucked, and only then did Hex actually look right at him. "I'm the last person who is gonna freak out over a little accidental intangibility." Hex was dumbfounded. "I...don't suppose you know who I am..? I mean, you've heard of Vortex."

"Kn...know you? Am I supposed to?" Peering through squinted eyes, he looked the thin black-haired boy over. "I don't think so..." He relaxed, just a tad, and let his now tangible arm loose at his side.

Then he caught sight of the familiar red oval on Danny's shirt.

But before Hex could utter another word, two brilliant blue rings of light split the boy in two, and left him in his trademark black and white hazmat. Hex looked like that of a gaping fish, which only made Danny grin even wider.

"I…am Danny Phantom."

'…**when he recognizes himself.' **


End file.
